The FIRE (financial, insurance, real estate) sector drove a fourth-quarter surge in Manhattan office leasing, Transwestern says. Q4’s leasing activity totaled more than 10 million square feet, pushing the yearly total over 34 million square feet for the first time since 2014.

“Manhattan closed the year with one of its strongest quarters on several fronts, with high levels of leasing activity, an increase in asking rental rates and a decrease in availability,” said research manager Danny Mangru at Transwestern. “Coworking continued to be a driving force, accounting for 10% of this quarter’s leasing activity, and a remarkable 15% of the 2018 total.”

FIRE tenants figured in 10 leasing transactions greater than 100,000 square feet during Q4. The quarter ended with availability below 11% for the first time since 2016, and with asking rents notching up to an all-time high of $74.92-per-square-foot.